Naruto Unleashed
by Just4fun23000
Summary: During the Forbidden Scroll incident Naruto was forced to tap into the power of his ancestral bloodline to safe the life of the only person that ever acknowledged him. The reveal of Naruto's bloodline then forced the Hokage to tell Naruto the truth about his parentage. How will finding out the truth change Naruto's Path? Wood-Style Naruto. Strong Naruto. -Under Rewrite-
1. Reawakening

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; all rights go to the original owner. **

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**~Naruto Unleashed~**

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"Why would you help that demon? It killed your parents, didn't it? It only thinks about itself, how it can get stronger, how it can get revenge!" Mizuki shouted, madness shining in his eyes as he took in the figure of his fellow teacher Iruka who lay bleeding on the forest floor.

Naruto Uzumaki was hiding behind a tree, clutching a big scroll closely to his chest as he tried to stay as quiet as possible. He still couldn't fathom what Mizuki-sensei had said. _"I'm the fox? I'm the Kyuubi? It can't be true…can it?" _It made more and more sense when he thought about it. Now it made sense why all the villagers glared at him. Why no one cared for him. That was why he didn't have parents!

"You are right. That's how a demon would act like." Naruto tried hard not to cry out loud as Iruka spoke those heartbreaking words. Even Iruka agreed. Even the only person other than the Hokage who actually cared for him, the one who was like an older brother to him, thought that he was a demon.

"But that's _not _who Naruto Uzumaki is!" Iruka spoke strongly despite his injuries. "He is one of the most caring people I know, and all he wants is to be acknowledged! He may have the Kyuubi sealed inside of him, but that doesn't make him the fox! He is my student, and more than that, he is a person I greatly care for, he is the little brother I always wanted! I won't let you harm him!"

Naruto smiled despite the tears that cascaded down his whiskered cheeks. Iruka thought of him as a little brother! He looked out from behind the tree he was hiding at and gasped, he saw Iruka leaning against a tree with blood seeping out the corners of his mouth, and Mizuki was preparing to throw another Fuuma Shuriken at the injured Chūnin.

Naruto shot out from his hiding spot just as Mizuki threw the large Shuriken. Naruto ran as fast as he could, straining his legs to their limits, but he wasn't fast enough. He could see the shuriken getting closer and closer to the prone form of Iruka, who only smiled at the incoming projectile. Naruto pushed chakra into his feet and tried to move faster, but it wasn't enough. It was like time was slowing down, he could see the shuriken clearly, it was only a few feet from his sensei. He wouldn't make it. His heart sank. He wasn't fast enough, strong enough, good enough, to safe the first person that truly acknowledged him.

"NO!" Naruto bellowed with all his might, his right arm reaching out for Iruka.

The earth began to quake, and the ground split open as a large wooden root protectively coiled around Iruka, stopping the Fuuma Shuriken dead in its tracks. The two Academy teachers were stunned, they knew only one person that had the ability to control wood like that.

"M-Mokuton…" Iruka whispered in awe as he looked at the thick root coiled protectively around his body before his eyes wandered to his student who glared at Mizuki, completely ignoring the great feat he had just accomplished.

"I won't let you hurt Iruka-sensei! NEVER!" Naruto bellowed before he moved his outstretched hand towards the stunned Mizuki, his palm faced the traitor before he closed it into a fist.

Mizuki only had time to widen his eyes before the tree branch he stood on turned against him, the branch moved like a snake, coiling around his ankle with near bone crushing force, and before the traitor could even scream 'Kyuubi', he was wrapped up to the neck in a thick cocoon of wood, dangling helplessly from the tree.

Naruto looked from the dangling form of his traitorous sensei to his hand and back again, he repeated that motion a few times all the while blinking owlishly. "That…" he muttered quietly. "Was so AWESOME! How did I do that!? Can I do it again!? Iruka-sensei, did you see that!? With that wood-thingy imma be Hokage in no time, dattebayo!"

Iruka gaped at his student, his knucklehead student who just used wood-style and called it WOOD-THINGY. Iruka was sure the Shodaime was rolling in his grave right now. Iruka's jaw moved up and down as he did his best impression of a goldfish, he wanted to say something, he wanted to scold Naruto for disrespecting the legendary wood-style of the Shodai, but no words would leave his mouth. He just watched the orange loving prankster wave his arm around, shaking it like a man possessed, all the while shouting…

"C'mon wood-thingy! Why won't you work again!"

…yes, Iruka would ask the Hokage for a week of paid leave, he would also need to seek a therapist and a doctor, he most likely just had an aneurism from Naruto's sheer stupidity.

"N-Naruto…" Iruka muttered, gaining the attention of his favorite student. "D-Do you have _any _idea what you just did?" He asked tentatively.

"You mean with that wood-thingy?" Naruto asked with a tilt of his head.

"…y-yes, that _wood-thingy_." Iruka felt like he had just died and went straight to hell.

"Well, I did what I always do, being awesome, 'ttebayo!" Naruto fist bumped the air with a face splitting grin.

The facepalm of Iruka rang throughout the forest, a second facepalm could be heard coming from the direction of the Hokage tower.

Iruka dragged his hand down his face before he looked at the still grinning Naruto, he sighed but couldn't help the small smile that played on his lips. Trust Naruto to turn the reappearance of the legendary Mokuton Bloodline into a joke to laugh about.

"Yeah, you were pretty awesome." Iruka admitted with a laugh before he became serious and walked up to his student, grabbing his shoulder and looking deeply into his blue eyes. "Naruto what you just did, the bloodline you just awakened is called Mokuton, Wood-Style. It was the bloodline of the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and with the Shodai's death, it has been believed to forever be lost to Konoha."

Naruto stared at Iruka with wide, shining eyes. He was about to shout out his joy at receiving such an amazing gift when his sensei leveled him with the most serious gaze he had ever witnessed, a gaze that scared the hyperactive blonde to the core.

"Naruto, you will NOT speak of the Mokuton before you have consulted with Hokage-sama. You will NOT shout out that you have the Mokuton. You will NOT brag about having the Mokuton. You will NOT speak about the Shodaime in any way that may get people to believe you are somehow connected to him. And finally, unless Hokage-sama has given you permission to do so, you will NOT use the Mokuton, nor will you train to use it in any way, shape or form. This is an order, going against it is treason and treason is punishable by death. Do you understand?"

Naruto quickly nodded, a few beads of sweat rolled down the sides of his face. "Y-yes sensei." He said, though inwardly he was sulking. It was unfair! He finally had something that made him stand out, that made him special, something that would prove to his classmates that he was no dead-last loser and he couldn't brag with it!

Kami hated him, Naruto was sure of it.

Sasuke-teme was _never _ordered to hide that he was an Uchiha!

"Good, this is no laughing matter Naruto." Iruka said before he playfully ruffled his students hair. "The Mokuton is very powerful, I don't know how you received it and it doesn't really matter, what matters is that _everyone _in the Elemental Nations instantly recognizes it and our enemies would do _anything _in order to get their hands on that bloodline. The fewer people that know about you having the Mokuton, the safer you and the entirety of Konoha are going to be."

Naruto nodded somewhat dejectedly, what was the point of having an amazing power if all it does is putting one's life in danger? Naruto didn't want to have a big freaking target on his back just because he could control a few twigs.

Suddenly Naruto looked up to Iruka when he felt him take off his trusty green goggle and replace them with something, Naruto reached up to his forehead and felt something cool and hard being in place of his usual goggles, he immediately knew what it was and looked at his sensei, hope shining in his eyes.

"Iruka-sensei…?"

"Congratulations, Naruto, you pass. You are now an official Shinobi of Konoha." Iruka said in pride.

"Yatta! This is the best day of my life!" Naruto cheered; his depression completely forgotten.

Iruka chuckled at his student's happiness, glad that he could make Naruto's day. His eyes snapped to the side though as a flicker of movement alerted him of the arrival of an ANBU.

Naruto too snapped his head to the side and noticed a tall man dressed in the standard ANBU gear standing next to them. Brown eyes peered out from behind a white porcelain-like mask on which an ox-face was painted.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you." The ANBU stated in a respectful, no-nonsense voice. He didn't give Naruto a chance to decline and moved to grab his shoulder when Iruka interrupted.

"Ox-san, what about myself?" The Chūnin asked, wincing in slight pain as his many small wounds made themselves known now that the adrenaline had worn off.

"Hokage-sama has witnessed all that transpired here through his Crystal Ball, you are free to seek out medical attention and rest. The traitor too has already been taken care off, so you needn't worry yourself, Umino-san." Ox stated and both Naruto and Iruka looked to where Mizuki hung from the tree, only to find that the wooden cocoon along with its content was missing.

Naruto whistled and absentmindedly commented on the sight, "damn, you ANBU guys really don't mess around, do ya?"

Ox seemed to chuckle slightly, "yes, we do tent to avoid _messing around _whenever possible, now are you ready to go?" Naruto nodded and they vanished in a Shunshin.

Iruka looked around the clearing and winced slightly as he tried to walk home, every step he took hurt from the large cut in his back where he took the first Fuuma Shuriken in order to protect Naruto, he couldn't help but mumble out…

"Would it have been too much to ask that one of the ANBU took me to the hospital?" As soon as those words left Iruka's mouth a female, cat masked ANBU appeared behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You're welcome." She said and they vanished in another shunshin.

* * *

**-Hokage Office-**

Naruto and Ox appeared in the office of the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was leaning back into his chair while absentmindedly smoking a pipe, looking to be deep in thought.

Hiruzen's grey eyes fell onto the orange clad figure of Naruto as he and Ox appeared out of the shunshin and his wrinkled face quickly flashed through a myriad of emotions. Sadness, pity, hurt, anger, regret and joy were some of the emotions he flashed through every time laid eyes onto his surrogate grandson.

Sadness because he couldn't save Naruto's parents, pity because of the life Naruto was forced to live, hurt because of the many times he secretly watched Naruto cry himself to sleep, wishing he had parents that would console him, anger that the civilians of this village spat onto the final wish of his successor, regret for all the times he was forced to blatantly lie to Naruto's face and joy because simply seeing Naruto brightened the old man's day immensely.

'_Minato, Kushina, you would be ashamed of how the people of Konoha treated your son, I'm sorry…' _Hiruzen thought bitterly.

"Naruto-kun, I'm glad you're safe and I'm proud of how you handled Mizuki." Hiruzen smiled at the blonde bundle of energy.

"Thanks' Jiji!" Naruto beamed.

"Take a seat my boy, we have a lot to discuss. Ox you may leave us, and please tell my secretary that I do not wish to be disturbed." The Sandaime said in a demanding tone.

"Hokage-sama." Ox bowed deeply before he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Sooo, what's up?" Naruto asked. "Is this about that Mo-Muku-whatever-thingy?"

The Hokage sweat-dropped, _'Somehow I can hear both sensei's cries of anguish and Kushina's roaring laughter from the afterlife… you're truly one of a kind Naruto-kun…' _He coughed into his fist. "Yes, this is about the MOKUTON, that you managed to awaken. It is a very rare bloodline mutation that was only seen once in Hashirama Senju, the Shodaime Hokage and one of the founders of this Village. Do you see the Forests surrounding Konoha? They have been created by my sensei using the Mokuton, and that was only the tip of the iceberg that was Hashirama's power. The man was and still is a legend that inspires our shinobi with hope and courage while driving terror into the hearts of our enemies, when Hashirama appeared on the battlefield, men cried, soiled their pants and ran as fast as their legs could carry them…"

Naruto had stars in his eyes as he listened to his Jiji talk about how awesome the Shodaime Hokage was. "Am I related to that Hashirama guy? Am I!? I have to be right? Bloodlines are only passed down in Clans, so that means that I must be a Senju! That's amazing! I finally have a family! A clan!" Naruto cheered, his joyful blue eyes were misting over with unshed tears as he thought about finally belonging to a clan, finally belonging to a family.

Hiruzen smiled at his overjoyed surrogate grandson, now that Naruto had awakened the Mokuton, there was no need for him to be secretive anymore, it didn't matter if Naruto knew of his heritage or if he didn't. With the reappearance of the Mokuton, Naruto would have enemies no matter what he did, so the few that his parents' names would bring to the table, were simply irrelevant.

What was important was to nurture Naruto, to make him grow as a person and as a Shinobi, knowing his parents' names would possibly give Naruto an extra push to work hard.

"Yes, you are related to Hashirama Senju, he is your Great-Grandfather." Hiruzen spoke gently as Naruto teared up. "Hashirama Senju and his wife Mito Uzumaki married in order to unite the Senju and Uzumaki clan's through a bond of love and trust, by doing so they bound Konohagakure and Uzushiogakure no Sato, the ancestral home of the Uzumaki Clan, in a strong alliance that lasted for years. Mito gave birth to two children, the first child was a son, he was raised in Konoha, became a proud Shinobi of our Village and the heir of the Senju Clan, while their second born child, their daughter, was taken to Uzushio to be raised under the traditions of the Uzumaki Clan. It was a fair and acceptable agreement. The first born continued the Senju line while the second born child continued to main line of the Uzumaki Clan, which she did, by giving birth to your mother, Kushina Uzumaki."

"K-Kushina U-Uzumaki, my mother…" Naruto finally released his tears, he finally knew the name of one of his parents.

"Yes, she was your mother." Hiruzen continued. "Kushina was raised in Uzushio for the first eight years of her life, when Mito fell sick due to her old age and wanted to see her grandchild. Kushina was brought from Uzushio to Konoha to spend some time with her grandmother before Mito passed away and your mother had to take up a heavy burden." Hiruzen couldn't help but sigh in sadness as he thought about the dark secret that Mito, Kushina and now Naruto were forced to carry.

"W-What burden?" Naruto sniffled, trying hard to keep himself together.

"You know that you hold the Kyuubi within you, yes?" Naruto nodded. "Well, you are not the first to carry that burden. After his final battle with Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju used the overwhelming power of the Mokuton to tame all nine of the Tailed Beasts before he handed them out to different aspiring Shinobi Villages as an offering of peace between the nations, all of them except for the Kyuubi. The most powerful of the Tailed Beasts couldn't be held by an ordinary host, a normal man or woman would die the moment they came into contact with the Kyuubi's powerful Chakra. Only a Senju or an Uzumaki could withstand the power of the Kyuubi and safely contain it within their bodies. When Hashirama tamed the tailed beasts, Mito offered herself out of her own free will to become the first Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi, to safely contain it within Konoha's walls. When Mito died a new host was needed, and that host was your mother."

Naruto sat in stunned silence as he allowed that information to settle in, so his family had held the Kyuubi for generations, the Kyuubi had been in the Village for generations…

"After Kushina became the second Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi she was trained to be a Konoha Shinobi, and dear Kami, was she ever a fiery young girl. I can see so much of her in you, Naruto-kun. Her attitude, her love for pranks and ramen, her temper, it all lives on in you. As a child she had long blood-red hair and a slightly chubby face, because of that she was bullied during the Academy. The boys would call her 'Tomato-chan' which infuriated your mother to no end, and she quickly earned herself another nickname, 'The Red-Hot Habanero' because she beat every boy that ever teased her into submission, all the while she shouted that she would make 'Smash Tomato's' out of everyone that would get in the way of her reaching her dream, which was to become Konoha's first female Hokage." A lone tear trailed down Hiruzen's face as he thought back to those good old days, life seemed to be so much brighter back then.

Naruto was openly crying by now, and he wasn't ashamed about it. He received his mother's likes, her personality and even her dream, he couldn't remember every feeling as happy as he did right now, but also so sad, oh how he wished that he could meet his mother in person…

"Kushina-chan was amazing, she had such a drive and willpower, I truly believed that she would reach whatever it was that she had set out to reach. She had many friends, the clan heads, the shinobi and even the civilians loved her, there was just something about Kushina-chan that drew people towards her, her friendly demeanor could melt even the iciest of hearts. The years passed and Kushina-chan became quite the looker, she gained the attention of many boys, both of noble birth and just normal citizens, but she showed no interest in any of them, that was until one night were, she was attacked by a group of Kumo shinobi who wanted to capture her in order to bring the Uzumaki clan into their village. It was during that night that your mother and father met for the first time as your father saved her from the Kumo-nin, and like it often goes, your mother fell head over heels for her savior, Minato Namikaze."

Naruto jerked back into his seat as heard just who his father was, he couldn't believe it! His eyes were as wide as saucers and his mouth moved wordlessly, he wanted to refute the claim but his Jiji's serious visage made him realize that the old man wasn't joking.

"I'm the son of the F-Fourth Hokage…?"

"Yes, you are Naruto-kun." Hiruzen said calmly, taking a puff from his pipe before he continued. "I decided to keep the truth of your parentage a secret because your father had countless enemies, but now with you having awoken the Mokuton, you will be in the crosshairs of our enemies no matter what we do we do. We can try to keep your bloodline a secret but that would be a waste, the Mokuton is an incredible gift and you will _need _to learn how to properly harness it, so sooner or later the truth about it will reach our enemies. Though I do trust that you will be able to keep that secret to yourself until you can properly defend yourself, right?"

Naruto nodded shakily, damn he didn't know just how many shocks he could take in one day. Being the Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi, the Great-Grandson of the First Hokage, the son of the Fourth, what was next? Was he also the reincarnation of some God-Like warrior forever cursed to undertake in a struggle of good and evil and there was some destined bad guy out there that he had to face in a climactic battle with the fate of the world resting on his shoulders?

Nah, not even Kami could come up with shit like that.

Hiruzen looked at a clock he had in the room and noticed that it was getting late, then his eyes wandered to his desk where a half-finished pile of paperwork greeted him, and he couldn't help but pale.

Looks like it would be another sleepless night for the old Kage.

"Naruto my boy, I think we should call it a night, I will tell you more about your parents another time, alright?" Hiruzen said with a smile.

"Alright, Jiji!" Naruto went back to his exuberant personality.

"Good, there is one thing you need to know." Hiruzen became serious, causing the blonde in front of him to straighten up. "The order Iruka gave you is still in effect, no telling anyone about the Mokuton, at least until you can properly control it, understood?" Naruto nodded quickly. "Also, tomorrow morning I will send someone to pick you up for training. We have a good three weeks before the Academy has their team placements and before then, I want you to be able to at least control your bloodline, it wouldn't do to have you call upon the wood-style simply because you are angry about something."

"I understand Jiji." Naruto nodded though he couldn't help but smile at the thought of receiving real training from a professional Shinobi.

"Alright Naruto, I think you should head home; I still have this cursed paperwork to care of." Naruto couldn't help but chuckle as a dark cloud appeared over the depressed form of his grandfather figure.

"Okay then, I'll see ya tomorrow Jiji!" Naruto waved to the Hokage before he walked out the room, leaving the Sandaime to his thoughts.

Hiruzen leaned back into his chair before he refilled his pipe with fresh tobacco and lit it. He took a long drag of smoke and inhaled it deeply into his old lungs, feeling the calming burn in his throat before he exhaled a large puff of smoke.

'_I can't believe it… the legendary Mokuton has reappeared once more, in none other than Naruto. Oh, Kushina-chan, Minato-kun, if only you could see your son, you would be so proud.' _Hiruzen though with a small smile before his eyes wandered to the picture of his sensei hanging proudly in his office. _'You too would be proud sensei. You always told me that the Mokuton would reappear again in one of your descendants, I should've never have doubted you… I just hope that we will be able to prepare Naruto-kun enough before word reaches the other villages. The reappearance of the Mokuton doesn't just tip the scales of power in the Elemental Nations, it will shatter those scales. Iwa will never allow a second Hashirama Senju to rise to power, and if they should find out that Naruto is Minato's son…" _

"Neko." Hiruzen stated and immediately a purple haired woman dressed in full ANBU gear wearing a cat shaped mask appeared in front of the wizened Hokage before she went down on one knee.

"Hokage-sama." She acknowledged respectfully.

"I want you to gather two ANBU teams consisting of Shinobi that you trust and then protect Genin Uzumaki from all harm, don't allow him to spot you unless absolutely necessary. I take it you heard what Naruto and I discussed?" Neko nodded once. "Then you know just how important his survival is for this village. This is an S-Ranked assignment and highly confidential. The mission will only end once Naruto Uzumaki is fully capable of protecting himself, understood?"

"Yes sir!" Neko stated in determination.

"Good, you're dismissed." Hiruzen smiled.

"Hokage-sama." Neko rose from her kneeling position, bowed and vanished in a smoke and leafless shunshin.

Hiruzen looked at the spot Neko just inhabited with a small smile before his eyes wandered to the paperwork he still had to do before he could leave for home. He sighed deeply and got to work; paperwork was evil, truly evil…

* * *

~NU~

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**-Next Morning, Naruto's Apartment-**

It was eight in the morning and Konoha's Number One Knucklehead Ninja was currently preparing for his day. His nerves were working overtime as he thought about who his teacher would be and when he or she would arrive, he just hoped that he would be able to get along with him/her.

It would be pretty bad if he couldn't stand his sensei or if it was the other way around and his teacher was biased because Naruto held the fox.

Another thing that wouldn't leave his mind and nearly kept him awake the whole night were the many revelations about his family. The identity of his father and mother still shocked him, who would've believed that his father was THE Minato Namikaze!?

Certainly not Naruto. He honestly believed his parents to be some unimportant Ninja that died during the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago.

Then there was the revelation that he was the Great-Grandson of the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju. How in the world would Naruto be able to live up to such a legacy? Yes, his possession of the Wood-Style Kekkei Genkai was amazing, but would he be able to match his Great-Grandfather's greatness with it?

Would he be able to match his father's skill in sealing? His speed? Would he be able to match whatever his mother had achieved?

Would he be able to make them proud of him?

As Naruto was now, he was sure that he was nothing but an embarrassment to his family. He had no skill, he had no knowledge, he couldn't even perform a simple Bunshin, the easiest of the three academy jutsu, and he utterly failed at completing it.

Pitiful.

He knew nothing about his Great-Grandfather, whenever Iruka taught about the Shodai, Naruto droned out, believing it to be utterly boring and beneath him, thinking that such knowledge would never be helpful in any way. He knew so little that he couldn't even spell the name of the Shodai's bloodline, his own bloodline.

Naruto felt ashamed, he still couldn't properly speak the name of his own bloodline, how utterly pitiful.

He could remember how the Hokage had talked about the Uzumaki clan yesterday as if Naruto should've known about it. He also could remember Iruka holding a speech about Uzushiogakure no Sato once, but like always, Naruto had rather joked with Kiba and Chouji than actually paying attention. And now he didn't know the first thing about his mother's home, about his own ancestral home. Neither did he know anything about the Uzumaki Clan, he didn't know if the Uzumaki clan still existed, if he had living family out there somewhere or if he was the last Uzumaki just like Sasuke was the last Uchiha.

And then there was his father, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage. The Yellow Flash, the hero of Konoha and Naruto's idol.

What did he know about his father? He knew that Minato Namikaze was an orphan that worked himself to greatness. He knew that he became aa Genin under the legendary Jiraiya of the Sannin, who later took his father on as an apprentice. And finally, thanks to the Hokage, he knew that his father saved his mother sometime after his mother had graduated, but that was about all.

He knew some other little stories about his father, like how he ended the Third Shinobi War nearly on his own and how he became a master of the complex shinobi art known as Fuuinjutsu, creating some of the most devastating seals known to man.

One thing was clear to Naruto, he needed to learn and train like never before. He would not drag the names of his ancestors through the mud simply because he believes himself above reading a book.

He would make his family proud, his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, all of them.

So, with new determination Naruto went about starting his day, he hopped out of bed and quickly headed for the bathroom, where he cleaned himself up, brushed his teeth and dressed himself in his good ol' trusty jumpsuit.

Orange Rocks! Nuff said.

After finishing in the bathroom, he headed into the small built in kitchen of his apartment and quickly readied himself a breakfast of instant Ramen and a container of fresh milk. After pouring steaming hot water into his delightful bowl of ramen and covering it with the lid, he waited impatiently, staring at a small timer next to his ramen as if it was the devil itself.

After three painfully long minutes the timer finally beeped and Naruto's face split into a grin, he quickly ripped off the lid from his ramen and without table-manners of any kind started to pig out, gulping down thick bundles of noodles without chewing them before washing them down with large gulps of milk. After not even a full minute he had devoured the entire bowl of ramen and was now drinking the hot broth like a starving man would drink water.

With a happy sigh he set the bowl back down and patted his now decently filled stomach, he could go for another ten or so bowls, but he didn't want to stuff himself and risk the chance of puking during training.

After finishing off his milk, he casually threw both the bowl and the empty milk carton over his shoulder where they bounced off of an overfilled dustbin that was in serious need of a cleaning, not that the blonde cared, before he stood up and went into the living room of his small apartment. He walked up to a small bookshelf and grimaced slightly as he saw the few books he had being covered by a thick layer of dust.

Those were the Textbooks that all students received on their first day at the academy; _How to Train, Shinobi Code of Conduct, Shinobi Diet, Chakra Control +, History of Konoha, Ninjutsu for Beginners, Taijutsu for Beginners, Genjutsu for Beginners, Shinobi Weapons 101 _and_ Geography of the Elemental Nations._ There were Books on Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Language, Chemistry and Herbology. All things that every Shinobi should know, or so the academy teachers claimed when they handed those books out to the students.

Naruto could still remember how the Headmaster of the Academy droned on about how important it was that every student would learn on their own once the academy hours were over. How important it was that every student read those books and did the exercises that were listed in them.

He could also remember how he came home after his first day, dumped the books into this shelf and never once reached for them again.

He was Naruto Uzumaki, he did not read books. Reading boring books did not give him the attention he so desperately wanted.

Not for the first time this day did Naruto feel ashamed of how utterly foolish he acted. He was no shinobi, he was a petulant child acting tough, a brat, nothing more.

He shook his head and reached for one of the books before dusting it off, he coughed slightly as he inhaled some of the dust. He went back into the kitchen and sat down at his simple table, placing the book in front of him.

With another pained grimace he opened the book and began to read about the _Shinobi Code of Conduct_.

Only a few lines into the book Naruto felt like throwing it out the window, _'Kami-sama! This is soooo booorrriiinnng! How can Sakura-chan stand this? How can anyone stand this!?' _He whined inwardly but didn't stop reading. The more Naruto read, the more distressed he became with what he read…

_Upon becoming a shinobi, one must abide by specific rules when out in the field. Ninja follow this code in order to "kill their emotions", preventing them from running wild and causing the mission to be a failure. The most important thing for a shinobi is to be a tool for achieving their village and country's goals. Emotions are considered unnecessary things._

'_Emotions are unnecessary things?' _Naruto thought in shock, yes, they were told the same in the academy, but back then he simply put it off as the boring ramblings of Iruka. He shook his head, he could think about this later, maybe he would ask the Hokage about it, but for now he continued reading…

_The five Basic Shinobi Rules:_

_#1: Always watch your back_

_#2: Always be aware of your surroundings_

_#3: Always have an exit strategy_

_#4: Always carry at least one weapon on your body_

_#5: Always be at least two steps ahead of your enemy_

_The twenty-five Rules of Shinobi: _

_Rule #1: Shinobi must always show allegiance to their Kage._

_Rule #2: A Shinobi must not value himself but rather adhere to the Villages ideals._

_Rule #3: Hone your reflexes, they often react without you realizing it._

_Rule #4: A Shinobi must always put the mission first. _

_Rule #5: A Shinobi must always put the Village above himself. _

_Rule #6: Misdirection is the sharpest blade. _

_Rule #7: A Shinobi should be able to prevail without fighting. _

_Rule #8: A shinobi must abstain from overindulging in the three vices: sex, alcohol, and money. _

_Rule #9: A Shinobi must always carry out the mission assigned._

_Rule #10: There are times when information is more important than lives. _

_Rule #11: A Shinobi must see the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings. _

_Rule #12: The Shinobi's World lies hidden within Shadows. _

_Rule #13: Hesitation means death. _

_Rule #14: A Shinobi must never reveal information, not even in the face of torture or death. _

_Rule #15: Only through overcoming fear and injury can a Shinobi find the true limitations of his strength. _

_Rule #16: A Shinobi must turn his weaknesses into strengths. _

_Rule #17: Death to traitors. _

_Rule #18: A Shinobi must prepare before it is too late. _

_Rule #19: A Shinobi has no honor, only the honor of the Village counts._

_Rule #20: A Shinobi must never question his superior. _

_Rule #21: The successes and failure of one affects the whole. _

_Rule #22: A Shinobi must never show attachment. _

_Rule #23: A Shinobi must endure. _

_Rule #24: A Shinobi does not forgive, only the Kage has that right._

_Rule #25: A Shinobi must never show emotion._

Naruto whistled slightly. _'Damn, I knew that being a Shinobi would be demanding, but those rules seem a bit much in my opinion.' _He thought with a small frown.

He would need to talk with the old man about the seriousness of these rules. Hell, he noticed a few Shinobi in passing that broke these rules, the two gatekeepers being prime examples! They slept on the job, how is that not forbidden!?

He saw Shinobi stumble drunkenly through the streets of Konoha at night!

So much for not overindulging in the three vices…

Naruto suddenly heard a knock on his door and snapped his head towards it. His face lit up with a smile, this must've been his new sensei!

Naruto quickly got up from his seat and walked towards the door at a brisk pace. Once he reached the door, he quickly opened it and saw a male ANBU was waiting for him.

The ANBU had short brown hair and Naruto could see almond colored eyes staring out from behind the mask; he wore a black, sleeveless jumper under a grey flak jacket with strapped-up shinobi sandals, arm-length gloves with guards over them. He carried a sword strapped to his back and wore a mask that resembles a cat's face covered in green, and red intricate markings, and the ANBU tattoo was on his left shoulder.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" The ANBU asked in a quite casual tone.

"Yes." Naruto answered getting a nod from the ANBU.

"I have been ordered by Hokage-sama to train you for the next three weeks and turn you into a decent Shinobi before you are given your official sensei. You can call me Yamato, meet me at training ground eighteen, which lies one and a half kilometer to the east, in five minutes, if you are even a second late, you will run ten laps around Konoha."

With that Yamato simply vanished in a sound and smokeless shunshin, leaving Naruto to stand in his open door with his mouth agape and eyes wide…

"OH SHIT!"

Well, the day started pretty crappy for Konoha's number one knucklehead.

* * *

**-Hokage Office-**

Hiruzen Sarutobi monotonously stamped out papers, his hands moved on their own while he was deep in thought. He called for one of his best Jonin about an hour ago, but in typical and predictable fashion the Jonin took his sweet time.

Hiruzen sighed and his mind wandered to his surrogate grandson, he knew that with the sensei he had assigned to Naruto, he would become a decent shinobi before the team placements, now he only had to notify the leader of Naruto's assigned Genin team of the new developments.

That and he had to threaten Naruto's future sensei into actually teaching the boy something useful. If Naruto and his team passed the actual Genin test that is, which was another thing. Hiruzen would have to make sure that Naruto and his teammates would be subjected to a tougher test, with Naruto receiving an ANBU sensei, the normal Genin test wouldn't cut it.

Hiruzen looked up as his door opened and the Jonin he called for came strolling in as if he owned the office.

"Sorry, I wanted to arrive sooner but I-" The Jonin was cut off by the Hokage.

"Save it Kakashi, I know that you were lost in thought while staring at the memorial stone." Hiruzen sighed, getting a sheepish chuckle and eye-smile from Kakashi. "You need to stop that by the way. The past cannot be changed, what happened, happened and we can only try to move on."

Kakashi sighed and nodded towards his leader, his sole eyes moving downwards in shame, but it was just so damn hard to let go of his past and forget his mistakes. "I know…" He said with another sight following before he cheered up slightly. "Anyway… why did you call me, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen looked at Kakashi and leaned back in his chair.

Kakashi has a strong resemblance to his father, so much so that they are sometimes mistaken for each other: he has spiky silver hair often oriented to his left-side, one dark grey eye, and typically a relaxed, heavy-lidded expression. His left eye was covered by his Konoha forehead-protector and his lower face was hidden by a thin black facemask. Kakashi was dressed in a flak jacket, dark blue pants, and a long-sleeve shirt and fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backhand.

"I need to talk to you about Naruto and the team you will be handed in three weeks." Hiruzen stated.

"You mean Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, right?" Kakashi asked, he and the other Jonin sensei's were already informed about all of the current Academy graduates, but there was something that wasn't adding up in Kakashi's mind. "I thought that Naruto failed for being unable to complete the Academy Bunshin?"

A dry look from the Hokage stopped Kakashi's joking. "Ma, ma, I know, Jinchūriki and Uzumaki reserves, I was just joking. Still, how did Naruto pass? I heard some rumors about Naruto stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing for a traitorous Academy teacher, that true?"

"Yes, that's how Naruto got promoted in the first place. After Naruto singlehandedly took care of the traitor Mizuki, Iruka passed him and gave him his Hitai-ate." Hiruzen said much to the shock of Kakashi.

"Wait, wait, did you say that NARUTO took care of a Chūnin? How!?"

"I did call you because I wanted to tell you about this before you became Naruto's sensei, so sit down and make yourself comfortable, we will be here for a while." Hiruzen said and pointed to a chair in front of his desk.

Kakashi nodded and sat down before the Sandaime delved into an explanation of the previous day's events that utterly stunned the one eyed Elite Jonin. Hiruzen carefully explained everything that happened and added his own knowledge of Kushina and Minato to make sure that Kakashi understood the magnitude of Naruto awakening his bloodline. Kakashi was one of the few people in Konoha that knew who Naruto truly was, but not even he was aware of Kushina's relation to the Shodai and Mito Uzumaki.

"T-The M-Mokuton…?" Kakashi whispered in awe. He had no idea how he should react to the knowledge he was just given, he knew that Kushina Uzumaki was one of the greatest Kunoichi Konoha ever had, someone incredibly skilled in Kenjutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu despite her being a Jinchūriki and naturally having insanely large chakra reserves, which made her skill in Genjutsu even more impressive, but to find out that she was the Granddaughter of THE Hashirama Senju took the cake. "Why was no one ever told of Kushina-sama's heritage?"

"Because Kushina-chan didn't want that knowledge to be made public, she only told her closest friends and family about it. The only people that ever knew the truth were Tsunade, Jiraiya, Minato, Kushina's students and I myself." The Sandaime said.

"Why would she keep her heritage a secret?"

"Simple Kakashi, Kushina was neither raised in Konoha nor was she raised as a Senju. She loved the Uzumaki clan and always saw herself as an Uzumaki rather than a Senju. Don't get me wrong, she looked up to her grandfather and greatly respected Hashirama-sensei, but she was raised as an Uzumaki first and foremost. Another reason was her pride. She wanted to become the first female Hokage on her own, without having the title handed to her on a silver platter simply because she was related to one of the founders of the village. And finally, because she didn't want to be under the Shodaime's shadow like Tsunade was for the better part of her life. People always expected the best of Tsunade, they expected her to succeed where everyone else failed, simply because she is the Granddaughter of Hashirama Senju. Kushina simply didn't want that, and honestly, I can't fault her for it." Hiruzen stated getting a nod of understanding from Kakashi.

"I can understand that, still, I would have _never _guessed that Naruto would be the one to bring back the legendary Mokuton. To think that he is the great-grandson of the Shodaime… to think that the people of the village _ignored _the great-grandson of the Shodaime…" Kakashi muttered.

"Better to be ignored than to be targeted." Hiruzen sighed. "Naruto didn't have a bad life by any means, sure he was ignored by _some _villagers, but not all people of Konoha are petty and narrow minded. The Ichiraku and Higurashi families and many more shop owners are nice and helpful to Naruto, and one cannot forget that Naruto himself is responsible for most of the treatment he's gotten. I don't fault some villagers for seeing him as nothing more than a no-good troublemaker, I don't even _want _to know the exact repair costs we had to pay for all the property damage Naruto has caused in the twelve years of his life. To have a few Chūnin chase him around for an entire day already amassed to a few thousand Ryu of mission payment, money that could've been spend in a meaningful way…"

Kakashi had to agree with the Hokage on that, if anyone else BUT Naruto would've pulled the same stunts, they would've been severely reprimanded for it and most likely would've lost their Shinobi license for causing the village such troubles.

"But we are getting off topic here, I have not only called you to tell you about Naruto having the Mokuton. I called you to inform you that the ANBU operative Tenzō will use the next three weeks to teach Naruto how to control his Mokuton as to not be a threat to his comrades." The Hokage said.

"A threat?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, a threat. Hashirama-sensei once told me that the Mokuton is unlike any bloodline out there, it works mostly instinctual and came to him naturally, that also means that it is highly connected to the wielders emotions. Tenzō did not have that problem because his Mokuton is far inferior to the real one wielded by my sensei, and Naruto already shows signs of having a stronger affinity for it then Tenzō himself does. Yesterday Naruto called upon the Mokuton in order to safe Iruka Umino from death and then instinctually trapped Mizuki in a cocoon of wood without using a single hand-seal, I'm afraid that Naruto's exuberant personality might accidentally cause him to call upon his bloodline without realizing it, and thus cause untold destruction. Especially considering that the wood created with the Mokuton naturally suppresses the chakra of anyone that touches it, when the ANBU finally managed to break open the cocoon of wood Naruto used to trap Mizuki with, the traitor already suffered from severe chakra exhaustion and would've died if he stayed in it for an hour longer, and Naruto was not even aware of what he was doing." The Sandaime explained.

"I see…" Kakashi sighed, he knew that the wood release was powerful, frighteningly so but to have actual evidence of it's power was something else. If Naruto could instinctually sap someone of their chakra without even intending to do so, he shuddered to think what the blonde might be capable off once he was fully in control of his powers. "Well, if anything I think you choose the right man to teach young Naruto, I just hope that Tenzō will be able to deal with Naruto, he was never the most social of people." Kakashi chuckled.

Hiruzen too let out a chuckle, "oh don't worry Kakashi, I've told Tenzō to drill Naruto until he simply no longer has the energy to cause mischief."

"I'd be happy to see him try, Naruto's a stamina freak, I doubt that there is anything out there that can put him down for long." Kakashi joked.

"Maybe you're right." Hiruzen shook his head slightly. "Well, back to business. I also wanted to talk with you about your team Kakashi. As you know you will gain the last Uchiha, a decently skilled Kunoichi and finally Naruto as your Genin team, and I want you to treat them as such." Kakashi gave the Hokage a curious glance, as if not understanding what his superior meant. "You know what I mean Kakashi, I will _not _allow you to take the easy path in which you will only teach them the bare minimum. You will train them properly, if you have to make three Kage Bunshin in order to give each of them the attention they require, then so be it. You will instruct them in Nin, Gen and Taijutsu, you will teach them all you know about all other Shinobi fields so that they can find out if there is something, they want to specialize in. But don't worry, I will tell all other Jonin sensei's the same, so don't think that I order you to work extra hard."

Kakashi paled a little behind his mask, he had hoped that he could simply teach his Genin a few teamwork exercises and have them do none stop D-Ranks while he himself read more about the wonders of Icha Icha.

"I've noticed that the overall skill of our shinobi has reduced over recent years. We have more manpower due to the lower requirements to pass the Academy, but none of the current generation of shinobi could match the shinobi produced during yours. Not only that, this year's graduates hold the largest number of clan heirs in recent history, all of them children that are overflowing with talent and potential, and I will not see it squandered because the sensei's are too lazy to teach them properly." Hiruzen said in a no-nonsense voice.

Kakashi sighed in dismay but nodded. "I understand…" He sounded like a petulant child that didn't get his way.

"Good." Hiruzen nodded, "I also want you to spice up the real Genin test a bit, with Naruto training under an ANBU I believe that the simple bell test might not be as challenging as it is supposed to be, I'm sure that you will be able to think of something."

"Should be easy enough, though I'm a little surprised that you of all people would call the bell test insufficient." Kakashi said.

"Don't get me wrong, I love the bell test, but I also see the faults in it, especially with a team like yours. Sasuke is a loner, Sakura is infatuated with Sasuke and would defend him under any and all circumstances and finally Naruto, who would simply charge you out of the blue. I do not have too many hopes of those three realizing the true meaning behind the bell test, as such I want you to _force _them to think about it."

Kakashi grinned behind his mask, now that was something he could work with. "How far should I go?" He asked with some excitement entering his voice.

"Show them a glimpse of what a true Shinobi is capable off and use _a little _force to make them realize the importance of teamwork." Hiruzen spoke, mischief sparkling in his eyes.

He couldn't wait to see what Kakashi came up with…

* * *

**-With Naruto, Training Ground 18-**

Naruto was lying on his back, panting heavily.

He didn't know where training ground eighteen was and had to ask for directions, as such he came three minutes late and his new sensei went through with his threat. Naruto's body hurt like never before, even with his stamina, he was spent, and training hadn't even started yet.

Yamato was looking at Naruto with amusement shining in his almond eyes though his mask gave nothing away. Though if Naruto was tired and hurt already, then the seasoned Shinobi was truly pitying him already, because by nightfall Naruto would not be able to move a muscle.

"Now Naruto, create ten Kage Bunshin." Yamato spoke in a monotone.

Naruto looked up from his position on the ground and glared at the ANBU venomously. Still his hands formed a cross-sign and chakra laced his coils, creating a faint outline of blue flames around his body. In puffs of white smoke ten identical copies of the blonde appeared in the grassy clearing of the training ground.

Yamato nodded and his fingers too formed a brief cross-sign and a single copy of the ANBU appeared. "You ten follow me." The Yamato clone spoke and began to walk off.

"Hey what-" Naruto was cut off from speaking as a chilling feeling rushed over his body, his head snapped to the real Yamato and he gulped slightly as the ANBU's mask shone in an ethereal glow, cold eyes glared at him from behind the mask.

"You will not question my orders _Genin_." Yamato stated in a hard tone. "Rule #20: A Shinobi must never question a superior, that is something you should know by now. I was ordered to turn you into a capable ninja within the next three weeks, as such you will listen to my every order and will fulfill them to utter perfection, anything else will result in punishment. My first order to you is that you will not talk when not questioned first, understood?"

Naruto nodded quickly, he would do anything as long as that sickening feeling would stop, his entire body shuddered, and he was getting sick because of that feeling off death that originated from his sensei.

Yamato called back his killing intent and nodded in satisfaction before his clone walked off with ten scared Kage Bunshin following behind him.

Yamato turned back to the still lying form of Naruto's, "stand up."

Naruto quickly did as he was told before he felt pain explode from his stomach and he was flung backwards with incredible force. Naruto's body bounced along the ground as if it were a rock bouncing on the surface of water. After his body came to a sliding halt he gasped, trying to get air into his lungs while trying to keep his breakfast from returning to the surface. He couldn't breathe and thought that several of his ribs were cracked, his eyes misted over slightly and wandered to the form of Yamato who stood at his previous position with his leg still raised, showing it was him that had kicked him.

"W-Why…?" Naruto gasped out through gritted teeth, he felt like his stomach had exploded from the force of the kick.

Yamato didn't answer, he jumped high into the air and Naruto's eyes immediately widened as he followed the trajectory of his air-born sensei. Naruto quickly rolled aside, only split seconds before his sensei crashed into the ground with earth shattering force. The Genin's eyes widened as he saw the cracks that spread from the point his sensei's fist impacted with the ground.

This would've killed him had it connected with his body.

Naruto stumbled to his feet, one hand still holding his pained stomach, he looked at the ANBU warily, not sure of what to make of this. "W-What are you-"

Yamato once again did not allow Naruto to speak, his eyes zeroed in on his temporary students and he shot off with his fist cocked back.

Naruto only had time for his eyes to widen before a hard punch connected with his jaw, his face snapped to the side closely followed by the rest of his body. Blood spurted from his mouth before his entire body lifted off the ground and like a bullet he shot to the right.

Naruto could feel his consciousness fading, darkness overtook his vision, his could feel the pain in his jaw, feeling the throbbing of a clearly cracked jawbone while blood filled his mouth. Another biting pain overtook his nerves as his cranium collided with the bark of a tree before his body slumped to the ground in a broken heap.

Yamato halted his attack, allowing his student a moment to gather himself. He was disappointed, he had hoped that Naruto would defend himself, that he would call upon the power of his bloodline to protect himself. Apparently, he had overestimated the blonde Genin, well, not that it mattered, a little pain was never a bad thing for any ninja.

Naruto slowly came to again, his body hurt like never before, but he could feel his chakra moving to his wounds, soothing pain and beginning to close the small injuries. His chakra always was soothing to him, but now it seemed like that has been increased many fold, it was strangely wonderful feeling. Due to having his eyes closed, he could not see the grass around him becoming lusher, greener, more alive. Saplings grew, flowers bloomed, all in a ten-meter radius around him as the air and ground got saturated with his chakra.

Slowly Naruto got on his knees and began to rise to a standing position. Once he stood, he shook his head and his eyes began to search for Yamato, he quickly found him and narrowed his eyes at the ANBU. He took on a sloppy fighting stance and looked at his temporary sensei warily, waiting for Yamato to make another move.

Yamato did not disappoint, he dashed at Naruto and delivered a roundhouse kick to the Genin's head, but pleasantly surprised as Naruto ducked under the kick and quickly backflipped away, getting some distance from the far superior opponent.

Naruto quickly formed a cross with his fingers and called out the name, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Five puffs of white smoke later Naruto stood hidden within a group of identical copies of himself.

Without any signal three Kage Bunshin's rushed forward, intending to engage the ANBU in a bout of Taijutsu, but the original Naruto did not assume that they would be met with much success. He was right, Yamato quickly dispatched the clones with two precise punches that flawlessly transitioned into a spinning heel kick that ended the last clone.

Naruto honestly had no idea what he could do, Yamato was an ANBU, someone who was above the Elite Ninja of the village, there was nothing that he could really do. Well, he could spam his new jutsu like no tomorrow…

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Multi Shadow Clone Technique)

As soon as Naruto bellowed the name of his technique, the entire clearing exploded in a massive puff of smoke and once it cleared, even Yamato's eyes widened behind his mask. There were not just a few clones of Naruto's surrounding them, at least two hundred Kage Bunshin surrounded the lone ANBU operative, all of them smiled cockily at the masked man before they charged as one from all sides.

Yamato was impressed with Naruto's skill in using the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, had a normal Jonin tried to use the technique the same way, it would've been lethal. Still, he was an ANBU and used to fight being heavily outnumbered so as Naruto's clones moved to confront him, Yamato calmly went through a series of hand-signs with his fingers ending at the Snake-Seal.

"Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu!" (Great Forest Technique) Yamato exclaimed before his right hand morphed into several wooden spikes that attacked the Naruto clones, mowing through them, taking out dozens in white puffs of smoke.

Naruto could only gape as Yamato's hand transformed into several thick spikes of wood that snaked around the battlefield and dispelled his clones one after the other, the wood was moving as if it had a mind of it's own. Naruto could make out the last hand seal that his teacher had made before his hands transformed and tentatively Naruto mirrored the seal with his own fingers, his palms pressed together, and his fingers intertwined as he formed the Snake Seal…

As Yamato was dealing with his remaining clones, Naruto allowed his chakra to freely flow through his coils, creating a faint outline of blue flames around his body, he did not know any jutsu for his bloodline so he called out the only word he knew, hoping it would work.

"Mokuton…!" Naruto shouted with his eyes closed in concentration, waiting for anything to happen.

Yamato evaded the wild charge of a clone before his eyes briefly wandered to the real Naruto, his brow furrowed as he saw him standing with his eyes closed while his hands were woven into the snake seal. Suddenly the ground beneath his feet rumbled and the ANBU's eyes widened, he only had time to jump back, flipping backwards several times before the earth was split open and a thick, dark green root shot out of the ground.

Yamato quickly reacted as he saw the root travel towards him as great speeds, he went through a series of hand-signs ending at Tiger before he called out his technique.

"Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!" (Rising Water Slicer)

He raised his arm high into the air, his fingers stretching out straight as water began to gather at his fingertips and he brought his hand down in a chopping motion, the moisture at his fingertips forming a thin and extremely sharp blade of water that cut through the oncoming wooden root like hot knife through butter.

The blade continued to travel towards the unsuspecting form of Naruto, who still had his eyes closed in concentration and it would've hit, had Yamato not ended his jutsu before it reached the blonde.

"That was very well-done Naruto." Yamato praised, impressed with Naruto's natural skill in Mokuton.

Naruto opened his eyes and quickly noticed the ripped open ground and the large wooden root that was cleanly severed in two, he couldn't help but smile, he had done it!

"Yatta! I knew I could do it again!" He cheered.

Yamato chuckled and shook his head, if anything, he could work with Naruto and was sure to turn him into a splendid young ninja before the day of the team placements arrived.

Now though, it was time to get to work…

* * *

~NU~

* * *

**A/N:** Hello my dear readers, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new story Naruto Unleashed!

As you already read, in this story Naruto is the great-grandson of Hashirama Senju, and possesses the Wood-Style, it was a concept that I always wanted to try out for myself.

In this story Naruto will eventually become very strong but I will try to keep his progression realistic, I will also try to keep Naruto mostly in character, but he will eventually become smarter than he is in cannon.

Now as for the Cannon itself, this story will progressively become more AU, but most events up to Shippuden will happen. I will take some creative freedom for some of the events and may change some things, but it will only be in Shippuden where I will truly begin to write a complete AU.

I've posted this story a few months ago and then took it down again to clean it up and because I though about rewriting some parts of it, but then decided that I actually like what I've written. So I just ironed out some mistakes that I've noticed and decided to post it again.

Now I've thought out most of the plot up to the Sasuke Retrieval Arc but I'm still willing to accept constructive criticism and ideas that you readers are willing to give.

As for the pairing of the story, it will either be a Naruto x Ino, Naruto x Temari or a Naruto x Shizuka. And no, I won't make this a Harem story, sorry for all those that are into harem stories, but I wish to focus on character interaction and growth in this story, and harem stories are not the best for something like this.

Anyways, I do hope that you enjoyed this re-post.

R&R

Have a good time, I wish you all the best!

-Just4fun23000


	2. A Slice of Life

**A/N:** Hello there and welcome to the second chapter of Naruto Unleashed, and let me just say, thank you. You guys and gals rock! Seriously, you all went crazy on the last chapter, favoriting, following and reviewing like no tomorrow! At this moment this story has 57 Reviews, 306 Favs and 430 Follows, those are crazy numbers right there!

Now normally I don't like to write my author's notes at the beginning of my chapters, but I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone that Reviewed, Followed and Favorited, thank you all! I hope that this chapter is up to your standards.

Now then, with that out of the way, let's continue with the story, have fun!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto; all rights go to the original owner.

* * *

~Naruto Unleashed~

* * *

Chapter Two: A Slice of Life

'_Shit!' _Naruto screamed mentally as he dodged yet another hail of thrown Shuriken. Back flipping toward a nearby tree, the twelve-year-old Genin was forced to substitute with a nearby log to avoid death by impalement. Four Shuriken embedded themselves in the wood only split seconds after Naruto made it to safety.

Deftly regaining his balance after his impromptu substitution, Naruto phased into a sloppy Shunshin. He reappeared, engaging his opponent in a flurry of taijutsu strikes, though Naruto had no luck whatsoever. His opponent was faster, stronger and simply more skilled than him, he could only hope for a lucky shot to get through his enemies' guard.

Thinking quickly, Naruto reached into his hip pouch and felt the cool metal of a Kunai slip into his grasp. In one fluent motion he drew the knife from the pouch and swiped it at his opponent in a wide arc.

Unfortunately for the young blonde, his assailant dodged the sweeping slash that was aimed at the throat with almost casual ease, moving quickly to gain some distance from Naruto. A few hand-seals later and a large Suiton: Teppōdama (Gunshot) flew at the Genin, who barely managed to dodge.

Across the clearing Naruto too flipped through a quick series of hand-signs all the while he cursed his lack of talent in using said skill, still a few seconds was all it took before Naruto's own, far smaller and slower Teppōdama soared through the air, though predictably his opponent simply jumped aside.

'_Still not good enough.' _Naruto cursed himself. _'Why is it that I just have to suck at hand-signs?' _And Naruto was right, he was no genius in other areas of combat, but he was descent enough, though when it came to hand-seals, it was as if Naruto had two left hands.

It was nothing that hard work couldn't fix, but so far it only served to annoy the blonde Genin.

Naruto once again cursed himself, this time it was for getting lost in thought during a battle and he only had split seconds to move his head aside, though he wasn't fast enough and a Shuriken grazed his cheek, giving him a shallow cut; nothing that his amplified healing wouldn't heal but it stung badly.

With his head back in the game, Naruto followed his opponents' example, reaching down to the Holster attached to his right leg, he pulled out five Kunai and promptly threw them at his assailant. Naruto's brow furrowed as all five Kunai managed to hit their target and his enemy fell.

'_Somethings wrong, there's no way that sensei would let himself be hit by my Kunai.' _Naruto was right, the form of his sensei puffed away to reveal a log. _'Damnit, he did a Kawarimi (Substitution) and hid it beneath a low-level Genjutsu.' _

Naruto's blue eyes sharpened as he looked around, he pulled out a Kunai and gripped it tightly as he moved into the Academy Taijutsu Style's defensive stance. A low whistle drew Naruto's attention to the left where he saw dozens of Kunai and Shuriken fly out of the woods, all headed towards him and they were far too spread out to dodge them all. Which left him with only one other option, quickly pulling out a second Kunai he began to deflect the hail of steel with both his arms. He moved quick, his arms becoming nothing but blurs as he tried to defend his vitals. Kunai and Shuriken grazed and cut into his arms and legs, but none hit vital or debilitating areas, which was all that mattered.

Once the hail of deadly projectiles ended Naruto was out of breath, sore and most importantly distracted. So much so that he did not notice the figure that stalked at him from behind. Before the blonde Genin could react, he felt the cold steel of a Kunai dig into his throat, hard enough to break skin and draw a trickle of blood.

"Ah damnit!" Naruto's reaction of throwing his arms into the air and cursing might've been surprising to anyone watching the scene play out before them, but to the two fighters it had become quite normal. "One of these day's I'll get you sensei!"

"But that day is not today." The figure behind Naruto spoke before taking the knife from the blondes' throat. "But you did well Naruto, honestly, your growth is phenomenal."

"Thanks Yamato-sense!" Naruto rubbed his sore throat with a grimace. "But honestly, do you _always _have to cut me during sparring matches? If I didn't have my enhanced healing those wounds would scar over!"

"Well, who said that you are the only one that can take advantage of your durability?" Naruto sweat dropped as his sensei casually stated that he was being that brutal because Naruto could take it. "Besides, pain is the best teacher."

Naruto proceeded to give the masked man a deadpan. "Right."

"You shouldn't complain Naruto, the maneuver that I just used was the same that your very own father had once used on his Genin team." Yamato stated, "only that your father was even more brutal than I."

"Fine! I get it, no pain no gain!" Naruto threw his hands into the air exasperatedly. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"None of us do." As Yamato said that an image of a certain snake using Kunoichi flashed through his mind. _'Okay, most of us don't…' _

"So, what's next? Another round of torture the Genin?" Naruto asked as he gave the ANBU the stink eye.

Yamato chuckled sheepishly. He might've been a _bit too _brutal during the first few days of training. Hey! He was personally trained by the number one hard ass of the Village! It might've been brutal, but Yamato turned out a fine Shinobi, there was no reason to assume that the same wouldn't work on Naruto as well.

"No, I think that this was enough for one day, you can leave…"

"Really!?" Naruto grinned at the ANBU, looking like an eager puppy.

"…Yes, you can leave and have the rest of the day off…AFTER you ran twenty laps around Konoha." It was hard, so hard for Yamato to stop himself from chuckling like an evil maniac, but that look of despair on Naruto's face was just too adorable.

'_Ah it's fun to mess with my cute little student.' _

Somewhere in Konoha Kakashi suddenly sneezed before looking around frantically, after assuring himself that it was nothing, he once more raised his Icha Icha and continued walking.

"Sensei, I hate you." Naruto grumbled but did as he was told. "I hate you so much."

Yamato chuckled and shook his head as he watched his temporary student run off at a brisk pace, no doubt hoping to get the laps over with as quickly as he could. Yamato didn't give the boy much time off, so even a stamina freak like Naruto was happy for every moment of rest that he could get.

'_Though if Naruto continues to improve the way he did over the last few days, then there truly is nothing that he couldn't accomplish.'_ Yamato inwardly praised his student, praise that was well deserved.

Naruto had taken to Yamato's training like a fish to water. Only seven days passed since training had begun and after the first day, Yamato had taken off the kiddy gloves.

Training started at 4am sharp, if Naruto was late the punishment was running laps around Konoha. The first time were ten laps, the second twenty, then forty and so on, each time the Genin was late, the punishment doubled.

Yamato had found out that that was a very good way to motivate Naruto to do what he was told. And the punishment didn't even cut into the Genin's training time. After all, as Naruto ran laps, Yamato could simply teach the boy's Kage Bunshin.

'_Kami bless Naruto's massive chakra reserves. The Shadow Clones make teaching the kid a breeze.' _Though Yamato couldn't help the sudden cloud of depression that appeared over him, it wasn't fair, Naruto's learning curve just wasn't fair.

Not even the greatest of prodigies that came before him could match Naruto's learning-curve or the _sheer _amount of knowledge and training that Naruto could gain in a single day. It was only a week, _one week, _and yet Naruto had increased his Chakra Control Three-Fold, Mastered the Tree Walking Exercise, had increased his accuracy with Kunai and Shuriken to a degree that he could blindfolded hit a bullseye eight out of ten times, he had _mastered_ the Academy Taijutsu Style and learned two Water-Style techniques, the Water-Style: Gunshot and the Water-Style: Water Wall.

Such growth was phenomenal.

And that wasn't even considering that Naruto had his Kage Bunshin read several books as well. Yamato didn't know how many books Naruto's clones had read, but the blonds mind already seemed to be sharper than it was a week ago.

'_Well I better go and report to Hokage-sama' _With that Yamato vanished in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

~NU~

* * *

**-Hokage Office-**

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed as he monotonously stamped out paper after paper all the while his thoughts revolved around his surrogate grandson and the future of his beloved village.

The village had finally recovered from all the blows it had received over the last twelve years. It had fully recovered from the devastating attack of the Kyuubi; and the attempted kidnapping of Hinata Hyūga as well as the Massacre of the Uchiha Clan were nothing more than painful memories to those that were directly involved.

Sometimes Hiruzen truly hated his job. In his youth he never would've imagined that he would one day have to make choices that made him question his own humanity and mental health. To be forced to choose between the good of one and the good of many, it was agonizing.

And now, after all those years of suffering, Konoha was finally back to its old strength. The Shinobi Corps was manned and fully operational, their manpower was higher than ever before, and the overall skill of their Shinobi was excellent.

A certain few of their Shinobi like Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi and Might Guy could even compete with the best Shinobi of other Villages.

Things were looking up and now that Naruto had brought back the one bloodline that was responsible for the formation of this Village…_'I feel like the Will of Fire might just become a raging inferno.'_

Then again, the reappearance of the Mokuton could be just as much a curse as it was a blessing. Kumo might've mellowed out under the rule of the Fourth Raikage but they are still very much eager to add new bloodlines to their ranks. The chance that they might be able to get their hands on the Wood-Style through Naruto could be too much to pass up.

Then there was Iwa…_'Kami help us if that old fence-sitter decides to act out his revenge on Konoha by harming Naruto-kun.' _Not that Hiruzen would allow that of course. He would rather personally bathe Iwa in Fire and Blood than allow them to harm Naruto.

'_I've already let Minato-kun and Kushina-chan down once, there won't be a second time.' _He swore resolutely.

But Naruto was not the only young Genin the old Kage worried about. Thoughts revolving around Sasuke Uchiha were plaguing his mind as well. It was his hope that putting Naruto and Sasuke on the same Genin cell might hopefully get Sasuke to open up.

The self-imposed isolation that Sasuke had adapted too was worrying Hiruzen. He sighed once more, something he did a lot recently. He looked up from his paperwork as he heard someone knock at his door.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Hokage-sama, Yamato-san wishes to speak to you." The feminine voice of his secretary answered.

"Please tell him to come in." Hiruzen said and moments later the ANBU operative in question came walking into his room. "Ah, I see that you've finished Naruto's training for today."

"That I did, Hokage-sama." Yamato confirmed. "I have to admit, that boy's growth is phenomenal:"

"I can imagine, especially with the way he is able to use the Kage Bunshin." Hiruzen shook his head with a smile. "How has he been doing over the last week?"

"Very good, sir." Yamato stated, "I have taught him the Tree Walking Exercise and had him polish the skills he already knew. And as a little reward for doing as well as he did, I have taught him two Suiton techniques."

"I see, and his progress with the Mokuton?" Hiruzen asked.

"Good, sir. I haven't taught him any techniques yet, but he is able to call on the Mokuton at will now. Admittedly, using the Mokuton without hand-seals is slow and not very powerful but there are no longer any concerns of him being a danger to his allies." Yamato reported.

"That's good to hear." The Hokage smiled. "I take it that you will only start teaching Naruto any Mokuton Jutsu once he mastered the basics?"

"That is the plan, sir. I have no doubt that Naruto is an absolute natural when it comes to the Mokuton, his aptitude for it already surpasses my own, which makes me fear that he might become too dependent on it. He already shows signs of being overly reliant on the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, so much so that I had to forbid him from using it in our Taijutsu Spars." Yamato said with a sigh.

"How so?"

"Naruto's Taijutsu is abysmal, Hokage-sama." Yamato admitted, "he has all the grace and skill of a drunken street brawler. And once Naruto realized that I outclass him in both skill and technique his go-to response was to use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to overwhelm me with numbers. Now I'm not saying that that isn't effective, because quite frankly, facing a hundred angry Naruto's is quite intimidating but it didn't help him in getting a better and more adept fighter. So, I forbid him from using his clones during spars which resulted in him actually having to improve his fighting style."

Hiruzen nodded in understanding. "I see, though Naruto's Taijutsu shouldn't be a problem for much longer."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"I'm currently having a few trusted Shinobi gather everything that Minato and Kushina owned and left behind, once they are finished and all assets have been gathered, I will give Naruto his rightful inheritance. Amongst it should be Minato and Kushina's Taijutsu styles."

Yamato hummed thoughtfully. "That would certainly get rid of one problem, will you hand Naruto Shodaime-sama's jutsu scrolls as well?"

Hiruzen nodded, "yes, at least the scrolls about Mokuton, as for the rest, I plan to hand it to Naruto once he reached Jonin. Some of the techniques Hashirama, Tobirama and Minato left behind are far too dangerous to be in the hands of a Genin."

"True, though if you want my opinion sir, some of the techniques like the Bringer of Darkness for instance would be very handy for someone with massive chakra reserves like Naruto to have." Yamato said, he knew that the infamous Genjutsu, the Kokuangyo no Jutsu was a kinjutsu because it required a metric shit-ton of chakra to be used. So much so that if a 'normal' Jonin where to even attempt the technique, he/she would be dead within seconds, Naruto on the other hand could most likely use the Jutsu without any negative side effects.

"True enough, I'll think about adding the technique." Hiruzen said. "Is there anything else that I should know about?"

"No sir, I don't think so."

"Then you're dismissed."

Yamato gave his leader a respectful bow before he left the office in a Body-Flicker.

Hiruzen took out his trusty pipe, filled it with tobacco and lit it, leaning back into his chair. Things were looking up; it filled his old heart with pride to know that the new generation would surpass the former like it was supposed to be.

Still there was much for him to do before he could finally go back into his deserved retirement. For one, he had tried to contact his two students, Jiraiya and Tsunade. He received an answer from the former who stated that he would try to return to Konoha as soon as possible but there was no answer from the latter.

Tsunade either didn't receive the message, which was a possibility, or she was still drowning her woes in sake and had simply ignored his message.

'_That girl…"_

Hiruzen didn't blame Tsunade for the way she acted. Her many losses had broken her. There was only so much one person could endure and losing her cousin and little-sister figure, Kushina, had driven the final nail into the coffin. Tsunade had started to believe that she was cursed to watch everyone close to her die. She didn't have the strength to stay in Konoha and raise Naruto like Kushina had wanted, instead Tsunade left the village, taking only her apprentice with her.

Thinking about that caused Hiruzen to have another headache. There was no doubt in his mind that Naruto would sooner or later conclude that the 'Legendary Tsunade Senju' was related to him and he would more than certainly have questions about her. The wizened Kage could only hope that by that time Jiraiya would be back in the Village. Say what you want about Jiraiya, he was a master at tracking people down and he was quite possibly the only man alive that could locate Tsunade.

'_Ah well, those are all problems that can wait…my paperwork on the other hand can't, not if I want to sleep tonight.' _Being Hokage was hard, he already pitied the poor fool that would succeed him, he truly pitied them.

* * *

**-With Naruto, Two Hours Later- **

It was evening and the Village was bathed in a beautiful Orange glow as Naruto dragged himself down the main street of Konoha. He had finally, after two hours, finished the last lap around the Village.

People may assume that Konoha was small and that one lap would not be all that long. They would be wrong. Konoha was fairly large, easily the size of an ordinary city of a major country and it was only made even bigger by the many training grounds that surrounded it.

What was even worst was that Naruto had been rounded several times by a weird green clad duo that quite literally blitzed rounds around Konoha. During his run, Naruto had been lapped by them at least five times, and whenever they did, they shouted that Naruto's Flames of Youth were burning brightly, a statement that caused the blonde to shudder every time.

'Though their jumpsuits were kinda neat, if only they were orange…if they were, I would get one myself, dettebayo!'

"Naruto?" Said blonde looked to his right as he heard a feminine voice call out to him. "What happened to you!?"

Standing to his right, in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop was his classmate and fellow graduate Ino Yamanaka. She was looking at him with wide eyes and had a questioning look on her pretty face.

"Huh? Wha da ya mean?" Naruto asked as he looked himself over. Sure, he was dirty, sweaty, slightly bloody and the top of his jumpsuit was missing, leaving him in only a tight black mesh-shirt.

"What do I mean? You look like you ran into a lawnmower!" Ino shouted, her pale blue eyes moving over the many cuts and tears in Naruto's clothing. She could also see darks patches if what she could only assume to be blood in the boy's bright orange trousers. "What happened? Have you been attacked!?"

Naruto was surprised, he never felt like he was all that close with Ino. He never really talked with her either. What few conversations they had could be amounted to her being sassy and him being an idiot.

Still, he appreciated her worry. "No, nothing like that, I have just been training for a bit." Naruto answered.

Ino gave Naruto a scrutinizing gaze. "What kind of training caused you too look like this?"

'The training of a sadistic ANBU operative, that's what.' "Oh, just normal training really, don't worry I heal quick." He said.

"Well, if you say so." Ino crossed her arms over her chest and gave the boy a look that told him that she didn't believe him. It was then that she noticed the hitai-ate that her classmate proudly wore on his forehead. "Wait a minute, I thought that you failed the graduation exam!"

"I did." Naruto admitted while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "It was Iruka-sensei that graduated me later that day after I managed to do a more advanced version of the Bunshin no Jutsu."

"A more advanced version? How did you manage to learn a more advanced clone than the rest of us?" She asked, giving him a questioning look.

"Ahh, that's something of a secret, all ya need to know is that I learned the Jutsu under questionable circumstances." Had Naruto truly known Ino, he would've realized that all Yamanaka tended to rather nosy and rarely took no for an answer.

"Okay, that won't do at all." Ino frowned at her fellow blonde. "You can't just make a girl curious and then clam up! Naruto, would you kindly tell me how you managed to learn a more advanced clone that the rest of us Academy graduates? Pretty please~"

Naruto was facing a losing battle as Ino looked at him with wide doe eyes and a pouty lower lip. She fluttered her lashes and leaned forward, enhancing her natural beauty even further than it already was.

For the first time Naruto realized that Ino was really pretty, gorgeous even. Ino had fair skin, light blue eyes, and long platinum blonde hair that she wore in a long ponytail. Her face was flawless and the way she currently looked at him could only be described as the epitome of cuteness. Ino was dressed in a purple outfit consisting of a high-collared blouse and matching apron skirt, and her abdomen and legs were covered in white bandages.

'Must…resist!' Naruto fought hard against the ultimate technique that all women possessed, but in the end, it was no use.

"Pleeease~"

That was the final nail in the coffin. Naruto folded like a paper towel and told Ino the story of how Mizuki managed to lure him into stealing the forbidden scroll of sealing from the Hokage Tower. Though he did keep out the truth about his bloodline, that was something that the _Gossip Queen of Konoha_ really didn't need to know.

Ino was stunned, hearing that an Academy teacher, a Teacher that she trusted, went and betrayed the village was a shock alright. Being told that Mizuki would do something as low as to bribe a desperate student to do his dirty work was even worst.

'I hope that daddy hurts him badly.' Her thoughts turned vindictive and she couldn't quite suppress the evil glint to her eyes, her father was the leading officer of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Department which meant that Mizuki would end up in Inoichi Yamanaka's care.

Though she was impressed that Naruto had managed to learn a Jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, the Jutsu written in that scroll are supposedly all very dangerous and difficult to learn. She never truly disliked Naruto, sure he sometimes annoyed her, and she genuinely believed him to be the dead-last but that didn't mean that she ever disliked him.

Now hearing this story made her question if Naruto was truly the idiot everyone believed him to be. An idiot wouldn't be capable of learning a high-level jutsu in a few hours after all.

"Please Ino, you can't tell anyone about that." Naruto pleaded after he explained the story to Ino.

"Why not? Did Hokage-sama order you to keep this a secret?" She asked.

Naruto thought for a moment, he could remember receiving the order to keep his heritage and bloodline a secret, but his Jiji never specifically told him to keep what happened with Mizuki a secret.

"…well, no he didn't." He admitted.

"Then there is no reason for secrecy." Ino stated confidentially. "Mizuki-sensei was only a Chūnin, he's simply not important enough to warrant high secrecy."

"If you say so, though I still think that-

"Hush, none of that." Ino cut Naruto off with a smirk on her face. "Tell me, do you really want to keep the fact that you beat a Chūnin a secret?" Ino mischievously asked.

"Well no but-

"No buts, that's juicy gossip right there! I can't wait to tell everyone!" Ino grinned, it gave her the appearance of a feline, it suited her in Naruto's opinion.

'_Kami am I glad that I didn't tell her about the Mokuton, dettebayo!'_ Naruto couldn't help but sweat drop at the way Ino acted.

"Anyways, congratulations for passing, Naruto; but I really need to get going. I still have to clean up shop and check the inventory." Ino sighed in dismay. She loved her family's little shop, but it cut a lot into her free time.

"Do you need any help?" Naruto asked. While he was dead tired and wanted nothing more than to take a shower and fall into his comfy bed, he didn't want to leave a comrade hanging.

Ino looked at Naruto in surprise. "Are you sure that you want to offer me your help? You look like you are on your last legs yourself."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "I don't mind, just tell me what you need help with, together we should be able to finish quickly."

"Okay then, why don't you carry those flowers over there into the shop while I do the inventory." Ino said and the two of them began to clean up the shop before closing it for the night.

Ino had to admit that she enjoyed herself. It was nice to have someone to talk to while she did her work and surprisingly Naruto made for a good listener. It didn't take the two of them long before they had finished with everything and they parted for the evening.

* * *

~NU~

* * *

**-Next Day-**

It was a bright and sunny day in the Land of Fire. The clouds were white and puffy against the baby blue sky. The birds were chirping melodiously, and a nice summer breeze wafted through the air granting some relieve from the heat of the scorching midday sun.

Naruto Uzumaki, or was it Naruto Senju? Namikaze? _Naruto _was calmly waling through the streets of Konoha. He smiled as he saw the many people going after their daily businesses, most of them seeming joyous and chipper. Children were running amongst the crowd of adults, playing Ninja, playfighting with sticks and paper shuriken.

It was a sight that only a week ago would've invoked feelings of longing and jealously in Naruto. He could remember it clearly, how lonely and _hurt _he had felt whenever he saw other children being doted on by there parents.

That feeling had lessened ever since the truth had been revealed to him. Oh, he wished that his parents were alive and that he could've experienced how it would be to come home to a loving family. He wanted to find out how it felt to be hugged by his mother, or how it would feel to be praised by his father. He simply wished that he could've spent time with his parents and his family, to get to know them in person and not just from stories.

But…at the same time he no longer felt _lonely_. He no longer had he urge to seek out the acknowledgement of strangers. No, he wished to make his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents proud of him.

Of course, he would still gain the acknowledgement of the people, there was no doubt in his mind. Once he reached his goals, people far and wide would know him, respect him, possibly even _fear _him. He had a legacy to uphold, he would become the greatest Hokage that ever lived, and he would surpass every Hokage that came before him.

That was his new dream, his ambition.

Naruto was headed towards the Academy. Yamato had given him the rest of the day off because today was the day where the pictures for the Ninja registration were taken. Furthermore, the Hokage wished to see Naruto for something.

He honestly looked forwards to spending some time with his surrogate Grandfather, the last week had been busy and Naruto hadn't had the energy or the time to visit the Hokage. He had so many questions that had been left unanswered and he wanted to hear more stories about his family.

As he drew closer Naruto could make out the huge building that was the Shinobi System Academy. The building was quite large and was composed of several buildings that had been erected over time. It could be easily identified by a large tree that was in front of the main building which had a swing on it and by the giant sign above the building that displayed proudly the Kanji for Fire.

Naruto could still remember that he used to frequent this swing in front of the Academy. He used to sit on it and watch as parents collected their children from the Academy. Those were the more painful moments of his young life. He felt so lost and alone, but things had gotten so much better when Iruka-sensei and the Hokage took time out of their schedules to make him feel loved and wanted.

Thinking about Iruka made him remember the talk they had a day after the Mizuki incident…

**-Flashback-**

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto called out, sounding slightly hesitant. He slid the door to the room up at the top of the rows open and looked around before he saw Iruka sitting at his desk. "Hey there sensei. You wanted to see me?"

Iruka sighed before smiling, "Yes I did Naruto. I wanted to say that I'm very proud of you for proving that you had what was needed to graduate, and I wanted to thank you for saving my life." Iruka sighed, "I also wanted to apologize for not realizing what kind of man Mizuki was sooner."

Naruto grinned widely as he started walking down the stairs towards Iruka while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head in what had to be his signature posture. "No problem sensei, I mean you saved me first, didn't you? I just returned the favor."

Iruka smiled warmly at the boy he saw as his own younger brother. "That's true enough I suppose, still how about I take you out for some ramen for helping me yesterday?" Hearing that he would get free ramen caused Naruto to grin brightly.

"Yatta! C'mon let's go, let's go!" Naruto hoped on his heels like an eager puppy.

Iruka chuckled at the display before he became slightly more serious. "Before we go, I have to ask, did you speak with Hokage-sama about the Mokuton?"

Naruto too reigned in his enthusiasm a bit and nodded at Iruka's question. "I did, Jiji even gave me a new sensei that will teach me how to control the Mokuton. Today was my first day of training and it ended only about half an hour ago."

Iruka nodded, "that's good to hear, still be careful with your bloodline alright? I don't want to see you being hunted by the other villages because of it."

Naruto sighed, "I will try but Jiji said that I probably won't be able to get around that. One day the other villages will find out about me having the Mokuton no matter what I do, so Jiji told me that all I can really do is to try and become strong enough to protect myself from all threats."

"I was afraid that that would be the case." Iruka frowned, the thought of anyone hunting his surrogate little brother sent jolts of anger through his being. He shook those thoughts off and decided to change the topic. "How has your new sensei been treating you then?"

Naruto shuddered as he recalled the beating, he received at the hands of Yamato, "he's…dedicated alright. He's a member of the ANBU and another Wood-Style user just like myself."

"What? There's someone else that can use the Mokuton? How?" Iruka inquired in shock.

Naruto nodded his head, "yes, he can use the Mokuton just like I myself, though I don't know why or how he gained it. At first I thought that he might've been related to me but sadly that's not the case, when I then asked how he could use the Wood-Style he only told me that it was a Village Secret and rather personal so he couldn't give me an answer."

Iruka nodded in understanding before he rose from his desk. "Well then, I think we've both had enough of this serious talk so let's head out to Ichiraku's."

Naruto was never quicker to agree with anything and they both headed out and left the Academy.

**-Flashback Over-**

Naruto reached the Academy building and headed inside. He knew the layout of the building like the back of his hand and effortlessly maneuvered the hallways of the Academy, heading up the stairs until he reached the rooftop where he knew the professional photographer to be waiting.

The rooftop was a large circular area that was surrounded by a simple fence. The roof was empty with the sole exception of an elderly man that stood behind a camera rig. The man looked ordinary, he was nearly bald, only a few bushels of white hair circled around the back of his head. He had round wire-framed glasses and a light-grey mustache.

"Ah good, you're finally here." The man said, "I was just about to clean up and leave."

"Yes, sorry for being late" Naruto apologized with a sheepish chuckle.

The man waved him off. "Don't sweat it, you're here, that's all that matters. Step in front of the camera and let's take this picture."

Naruto did as he was told. After Yamato-sensei had allowed him to leave, Naruto quickly raced home and got himself freshened up. He wore his custom orange jumpsuit but left the collar of it open to show a bit of the black mesh beneath. At first Naruto thought about using this chance for a little prank, he thought about making the photo for his Ninja registration a bit more exiting by using some make-up. But sadly, he lacked the time to set everything up and, in the end, he thought better of it, he didn't want that everyone who saw his Ninja registration would think of him as an unprofessional jokester.

"Say cheese." The man behind the camera said and Naruto smiled into the camera before a flash of light went off that had Naruto seeing stars. "And done. I'm sure the picture will turn out nice, good job."

"Thanks!" Naruto grinned brightly.

"Hokage-sama will have your registration file on his desk in a few minutes, so you better get down to his office."

Naruto nodded and left the roof with a final wave goodbye.

* * *

A few minutes later Naruto arrived at the Administrative Division of the Academy, the wing where the Hokage's Office was located.

Along with being a School, the Academy also housed the Hokage's Office and as such the Academy was sometimes called 'Hokage Tower' as well. It was in this wing of the Academy where missions were distributed, and the day-to-day running of the Village took place.

In front of the office was a small reception, a desk at which the pretty secretary of the old man was working. Said secretary was giving Naruto an iffy look, it wasn't a hateful glare like the less friendly villagers sometimes directed at him. No, Naruto knew that the Hokage's secretary was a nice and friendly lady that always treated him well.

"You aren't here to steal something, are you Naruto-kun?" She asked him, giving him a mischievous smirk. "I don't think that the guards would take kindly to you sending them on another wild goose chase."

"N-No, I don't think that that will happen again." Naruto awkwardly chuckled, a blush staining his cheeks.

"Good, then head on in, Hokage-sama is waiting for you."

Naruto nodded and headed into the office where he found the old kage sitting at his desk with a lit pipe in hand. "You shouldn't smoke that stuff Jiji. You're already old enough, don't let the smoking kill you even faster."

The old man chuckled at Naruto and playfully took an extra-long drag from his pipe, blowing out the smoke in several grand rings before he put the pipe out. "Take a seat my boy." Hiruzen said before he grabbed Naruto's file from his desk and gave it a read. "That's a good picture, makes you look professional."

"…that was what I was going for." Naruto lied.

"Right…" Hiruzen drawled, "anyways, how've you been doing Naruto-kun?"

"Great! Training under Yamato-sensei may be hard as nails, but I've been getting stronger with every day! I bet that I could beat Sasuke-teme in three seconds flat!"

Hiruzen frowned, "Naruto, be careful, arrogance comes before the fall. You might be getting training from an ANBU but remember that Yamato had to teach you everything that you missed and neglected to learn during the Academy. Even with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and the Mokuton you are only at the level of an ordinary Genin. Besides, Konoha Shinobi do not fight one another outside of sanctioned sparring matched."

Naruto nodded with a frown on his face, "I know Jiji."

"Good. You are a talented young Shinobi but so is Sasuke. Instead of fighting one another you should try to make friends with him. I'm sure that you both could profit greatly from one another." The Hokage said.

"No way!" Naruto formed an X with his forearms. "There is no way that I'll make friends with that teme, dettebayo!"

Hiruzen sighed, "Naruto-kun, I'm not going to force you to become Sasuke's friend, but it would mean a lot to me if you gave him a chance. Just know that Sasuke probably needs a friend after all that has happened to him over the last few years."

Naruto sighed, he knew what the Hokage was talking about, how could he not? Everyone knew about the horrible massacre that caused the Uchiha clan to nearly go extinct. Naruto had already tried to become Sauske's friend, once before the Academy started and then again during the Academy but Sasuke was just so cold and indifferent. It was like trying to talk to a freaking wall, he was getting nowhere.

And when Sasuke then started to become the number one student in the Academy along with him getting the attention that Naruto so desperately wanted…Naruto became jealous. He began trying to show Sasuke up at every chance that he got, it never worked which only caused Naruto's determination to grow.

But maybe he could give it another chance and once more try to get Sasuke to open up. It couldn't hurt, right?

"Alright Jiji, I'll give Sasuke another chance."

"Thank you, my boy."

"Yeah, yeah, anyways, Yamato-sensei said that you wanted to talk to me about something?" Naruto asked.

"I did, I called you here because I wanted to personally give you something." The Hokage said before he opened a drawer in his desk and took out a scroll. "This is a sealing scroll and it holds a part of your inheritance."

"Inheritance?" Naruto repeated, a look of longing entered his eyes as he took the scroll from his surrogate grandfathers' hand. "In there is the stuff that belonged to my parents?"

"Yes, at least a part of it."

"Huh? Why only a part?"

"Because some of your parents' belongings are dangerous and can cause a lot of damage in the wrong hands. Your father left behind a great many experimental seals and unfinished jutsu that can be very dangerous in the hands of someone that lacks understanding of the sealing arts. Those dangerous items and techniques will stay in save keeping until you reach the rank of Jonin, once you did you will receive everything that your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents left behind."

Naruto nodded, he wondered just what techniques could be dangerous enough that he couldn't have them right now. That thought made him giddy and he wanted to become a Jonin as quickly as possible. "So, what's in this scroll?"

"Now that you will have to find out on your own my boy." Hiruzen stated, receiving an annoyed look from the blonde Genin. "Don't look at me like that, it's not like I would invade your parent's privacy so a lot of the contents of this scroll is unknown even to me, I only looked through the shinobi related things that your parents owned."

"I see…" Naruto looked at the scroll in his hands. He wondered what he would find once he opened it. This was his chance to find out more about his parents and he couldn't wait to see what they left behind.

Naruto was so lost in thought that he didn't see the door to the side of the office open to reveal a small figure that came storming into the room. It was only when the figure let out a loud war-cry that Naruto looked to the side, and promptly proceeded to sweat drop.

"Hey old man!" A young boy shouted before he recklessly charged towards the Hokage's desk. "I'm going to defeat you and become the fifth Hokage!" As soon as he said that the boy tripped over his own feet and faceplanted hard with the wooden floor.

Both the Hokage and Naruto could only watch in a stunned silence as the young boy writhed on the ground and held his face in both hands.

"What the-

Naruto was cut off as another person stormed into the room with a loud shout of "Honorable Grandson!"

The second intruder was a tall middle-aged man wearing a dark-blue full body suit, thick round sunglasses and he wore his leaf headband as a bandana.

"Something tripped me!" The young boy complained loudly. He was short, nearly two heads shorter than Naruto and wore a weird helmet-like hat that had an opening at the top to allow some of his brown hair to spill out, looking almost like a high ponytail. The boy had a far too long scarf wrapped around his neck that was most likely the cause of him tripping in the first place.

"Are you okay Honorable Grandson?" The man wearing sunglasses asked while looking worriedly at his charge. "And by the way, there is nothing for you to trip on. The ground is pretty flat."

Naruto was perplexed as he watched the duo that barged into the office unannounced. _'Who is this shrimp…this was the most pathetic ambush that I've ever seen!' _

The young boy righted himself up into a sitting position and looked at Naruto before the kid suddenly jumped up and pointed at the Genin. "You tripped me!"

"What!?" Naruto shouted back. "I've been sitting here doing nothing! You've tripped over your own feet kid!"

The man wearing glasses frowned at Naruto, clearly not liking the way Naruto talked to the Honorable Grandson of the third Lord Hokage. "Hey you! Show some respect, you are in the presence of the Honorable Grandson of the Honorable Hokage-sama!"

The kid standing in front of Naruto shot him a smug smirk, a smirk that vanished as soon as Naruto simply gave him a flat and unimpressed look.

"And?" Naruto simply asked, "the Hokage could be that kid's grandmother and I would still give a rats ass about him."

Both newcomers looked stricken at Naruto's words while the old kage folded his hands in front of his face to hide a smirk.

"Now then if ya would excuse me, I have some other things to take care off." Naruto turned around and began to head out of the office waving a hand over his shoulder. "See ya later Jiji, oh and squirt, if ya really want to defeat the old man then you need to work on your stealth skills, that 'attack' of yours was just embarrassing."

With that said Naruto left the room, leafing behind a shell-shocked Shinobi, an intrigued kid and a silently chuckling kage.

* * *

**-A Few Minutes Later-**

Naruto calmly walked down an empty street when he noticed that the kid from earlier, the old man's grandson was following him. He didn't know why, nor did he really care, all he knew was that the boy did a horrible job at staying secret.

'_Why is that squirt following me?' _He wondered but, in the end, he opted to ignore the kid in hopes that he would leave him alone. He wanted to go shop for some more Shinobi equipment that he would need for training before heading home where he could finally look through his inheritance.

After a few more steps he stopped and looked over his shoulder, what he saw made him snort. That brat truly was inept at keeping hidden, seriously he simply draped a blanket over himself in the middle of the street no less. Still Naruto continued, believing that his earlier assessment would strike true.

Though the longer Naruto continued to play ignorant the more annoyed he became.

The same little game continued for a few more minutes until Naruto's patience reached an end, he quickly spun around and once again, the brat's methods of staying hidden were insulting to every Shinobi worth their salt. The kid once again used a blanked to hide himself, this time he had a painted blanked to mimic the wooden fence at the side of the road, it could've worked too, had the boy lined the blanked up to parallel to the fence that is.

"Okay what the hell are you doing?" Naruto confronted the kid who let his 'disguise' drop. "That's so obvious its honestly pathetic."

"He-he! Saw through my disguise, did you? The rumors about you are true, you're good!" The brat complimented Naruto, trying to butter him up. "Alright! From now on I'll be your apprentice and you'll be my sensei!"

"Huh? That's some kind of joke, isn't it?" Naruto asked in bewilderment, the kid wanted Naruto to train him because he was able to see through a disguise, if one could call it such, that even a civilian would've been able to spot from a mile away?

"No, I need a new trainer. Please boss!" Now that got Naruto's attention.

Kushina Uzumaki's genes were strong inside of Naruto and neither she nor her son would ever turn down the opportunity to have an underling.

"Keep talking…" Naruto smirked, the kid had his attention now.

"Yeah! You're the boss!" The kid shouted like an eager puppy. "Please, I need a new sensei! Ebisu doesn't teach me anything and I've heard that you managed to knock out my Jiji and stole something from his office! You gotta show me how you did that!"

"Well, how can I refuse." Naruto said while rubbing the back of his head. "C'mon walk with me for a bit."

Konohamaru nodded and began to walk besides Naruto. "So how did you manage to know out my gramps?"

Naruto had a light blush on his cheeks as he gave his answer. "I used a Jutsu that I myself came up with, I call it the Sexy Jutsu, it works well against all manner of perverts."

"Really!? Boss, you gotta teach me that Jutsu!"

"I don't know, that Jutsu isn't something that a kid like you should know." Naruto stated as the two continued to walk down the street, arriving at a slightly more populated area of Konoha.

"C'mon, you aren't that much older than me!" Konohamaru complained.

"Maybe not, but…" Naruto pointed a thumb to his forehead protector, "I'm legally an adult whereas you aren't."

"Please boss!" The boy pleaded, "I need it to defeat my Jiji!"

Thinking about the kid using the sexy jutsu to make the old man's life a living hell caused Naruto to smirk, an evil glint entering his blue eyes. He already agreed to teach the squirt a few things so he might as well get some personal enjoyment out of it all.

"Alright I'll teach ya."

"Yay! I won't let you down, I swear it!"

Naruto waved the boy off, "don't sweat it, the jutsu is easy to learn anyways. Now tell me, do you already know how to channel your chakra?"

Konohamaru nodded, "yes, Ebisu taught me how to use my chakra."

"And do you know the Henge no Jutsu as well?" Konohamaru gave another nod, "good, then show me a Henge."

"Huh?"

"Show me a Henge, you just said that you already know it." Naruto stopped walking and turned to face Konohamaru.

"Uh, sure but what should I transform into?"

"Hmm…" Naruto looked around the street until he noticed a beautiful woman standing in front of a food stall, looking at the different items on display. "Henge into that woman over there."

"Alright! Here I go boss!" The young boy shouted before he formed the single hand-sign required to perform the jutsu. "Henge!"

In a puff of smoke the boy's small figure vanished and a…a_ monstrosity _was left standing in his place. "Well? Do I look like her?" The voice of the transformed kid was deep, rough and masculine, going well with the beard that decorated the woman's(?) chubby face.

"Ahh…the clothes kinda look like hers." Naruto finally said after he got over how ugly the kid's transformation was.

When Naruto felt killing intent coming from behind him, he started to sweat bullets. "You think this thing looks like me!?" The woman the kid was _supposed _to transform into screeched while waving her fist around threateningly.

'_Why did I agree to teach the kid again?' _

* * *

**-One Beating Later-**

"Now, now honorable grandson, the next time you transform into me, make me a little cuter, alright?" The woman chastised lightly before she headed off, leaving behind a bruised and beaten Naruto and a shacking honorable grandson.

"Women are scary." Konohamaru shuddered in fright.

"You did it, why was I the one who got the beating?" Naruto whined before he stood up from the ground where the woman had left him. "Okay…! Let's head to a secluded place, far away from any women. There I'll show you how to do the Jutsu right."

"I agree boss."

The two boys went to a training ground and Naruto proceeded to slowly do the transformation technique in front of the kid, he put emphasis on how he needed to proportion his henge in order to make it effective and believable. It took them a while, but Konohamaru eventually managed to make a perfect henge and by extension a perfect sexy jutsu.

"Good, now that you have mastered the henge, I'm going to show you another useful technique. But I don't expect you to master it right now, or anytime soon for that matter." Naruto said which gained him a wide smile from his subject.

"What are you going to teach me, boss!?"

"Tree climbing."

"W-what!? Are you insane!? I can climb a freaking tree just fine!"

"Just watch squirt."

Naruto walked up to a tree and placed his foot against the bark, he channeled chakra to the soles of his feet and to Konohamaru's amazement he simply began to vertically walk up the tree with his hands casually in his pockets. He walked over a branch and stopped as he hung upside-down from the tree-branch.

"Now what did you say again?" Naruto smirked.

"That's so AWESOME!"

"I know right! But while it is an extremely useful technique and you would have to learn it sooner or later anyways; it is also very difficult to master. I had help in mastering it and it still took me a few days of constantly trying to get it right." Naruto explained to the boy before he jumped down from the tree, landing perfectly on his feet.

"So how do I do it?"

"You need to channel chakra to the soles of your feet and have them stick to the bark of the tree. Too little chakra and you will slip, too much and you'll blast yourself off. It's very tricky to find the right amount, my personal tip is to try and make baby steps, lie flat next to the tree and try to get a feel of how much chakra you need to have your feet stick to the bark, once you are a little more certain of how it feels you can begin to try and actually walk up the tree. Trust me, taking it slowly will spare you from some painful drops to the ground." Naruto explained while he petted Konohamaru's head.

The boy nodded eagerly and went to work, he did it just like Naruto told him to. He went down next to the tree on his back and tried to get his feet to stick to the bark, slowly gaining a feeling of the right amount of chakra he needed.

Naruto watched the kid train for a good hour, he had to say that Konohamaru was doing much better than he himself did, then again Naruto did start with the idiot approach and simply tried to run up the tree. He called Konohamaru over and decided that he deserved some rest, they sat down on a small log nearby and simply enjoyed the silence until Naruto broke it.

"So, what's with the obsession you've got with your grandfather?"

Konohamaru looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered, "my grandfather named me Konohamaru, after the ancient name of the village. So, it should be easy to remember but no one calls me that name, not one person in the whole village. That's because if they look at me, they don't really see me; all they see is the honorable grandson of the great Lord Hokage. No one knows who I am… I can't stand it anymore, it's like I'm invisible, like I don't even exist. I hate that, that's the reason I got to become Hokage now, so people know who I am!"

Naruto frowned as he heard the boy explain himself to him. It was kind of similar to his own youth. People seemed to prefer to pretend that he simply didn't exist because of the fox. At least Konohamaru had the luxury of already knowing what it was they saw when they treated him that way, for the better part of his life, Naruto didn't. And the reason Konohamaru was treated that way wasn't negative, still, the kid strangely reminded him of himself, especially at that age. Though Naruto wished that he had the balls to go up to someone and ask them for training back then.

"Get real kid, you think that people would accept a squirt like you as Hokage?" Because Konohamaru reminded him so much of himself, Naruto quickly decided that he would be painfully honest with the kid.

"Huh?"

"A kid can't just turn into a Kage after a day or two…"

"WHAT?" Konohamaru jumped up and balled his fists.

"It's not that simple, you keep saying Hokage this and Hokage that, but to really be a Hokage you need to be the best. The best in body and in spirit, no one will hand you the hat on a silver platter. You'll have to earn it." Naruto sighed before he looked at Konohamaru. "Your grandfather is known as the 'Kami no Shinobi', that is a title that was once the moniker of Hashirama Senju. Do you really believe that you could lead this village better than your grandfather, do you?"

Konohamaru stayed silent, not knowing how to answer that question.

"I thought so." Naruto looked up at the sky, "you know, a week ago my believes were pretty similar to yours. I believed that if I managed to 'defeat' the old man Hokage that I would become the Hokage in turn, and I believed that once I was the Hokage, then the entire village would look up to me, acknowledge me and love me."

"What changed?" Konohamaru asked.

"I grew up." Naruto stated before turning to once again face the kid. "A week ago, I met a man that showed me just how big the gap between me and a real Shinobi really is. It made me realize that the Hokage is in a completely different league than I. I also realized that there was more than just strength to being Hokage. I don't like it, but a Shinobi needs wisdom and knowledge just as much as he does strength and skill, if you're not skilled in all those areas then you will never become the Hokage."

"So, what should I do?" Konohamaru's head hung low and his shoulders were slumped. "If what you say is true then it will take years before I can prove my existence to the people."

"You will need to endure squirt, it's what I've been doing for the last few years." The kid's head shot up to look at a serious Naruto. "No one ever said that becoming Hokage or reaching any other goal for that matter would be easy. You'll have to put your nose to the grindstone and keep improving, it's going to be difficult and you most likely will be faced with many challenges, but it's the only way. There are no shortcuts to reaching a position like becoming Hokage, you are going to have to prove that you deserve it because otherwise people just won't follow you."

"But I want that the people know my name now!" Konohamaru whined childishly.

"Heh, I know, believe me I do." Naruto shook his head with a sad smile, thinking back on the many times he had wished to be acknowledged. "But I'm afraid that the world just doesn't work that way, we can't just get everything we want without having to put effort into it. Besides, I don't believe that your life can be all that bad. I'm sure that your grandfather calls you by your name and you surely have a few friends that call you Konohamaru as well, don't you?"

The boy nodded, "I do have a few friends that call me by my name, Uncle Asuma and Jiji too use my name."

"Then hang on to them, they'll help you and make your life easier until everyone knows who you are." Naruto smiled, though his smile quickly vanished as a familiar voice announced the presence of someone he really didn't want to deal with.

"I finally found you!" Both Naruto and Konohamaru turned around to see Ebisu standing on a tree branch above them. Ebisu had to hold back a sneer as he looked at the orange clad Genin casually sitting next to his charge. _'Hmpf, the Nine-Tailed Fox, what a nuisance…' _

Ebisu jumped down from the branch and turned to look at his disciple, deciding to ignore the Kyuubi-Brat completely. "Honorable Grandson, it's time for you to stop associating with this rabble and come with me." He sneered in Naruto's direction, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses up with a finger.

Naruto growled and returned the Jonin's sneer with one of his own. _'What is this guys problem? The Kyuubi? And here I thought that a Jonin would actually be above petty and narrow-minded behavior. This guy looks like he's trying to set me on fire with his eyes!'_

"NO!" Konohamaru shouted much to Ebisu's shock. "I want to go with Naruto! Unlike you he actually taught me something today! Here, check it out, Orioke no Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu)!" In a puff of smoke, Konohamaru turned into a beautiful and completely naked brunette bombshell that winked at Ebisu. "Hey there sweetie, how do you like my jutsu?"

Naruto smirked at the display, he felt oddly proud of Konohamaru.

Ebisu on the other hand looked mortified, "Honorable Grandson! What kind of deplorable acts have you been coerced into by this brute!? This _'jutsu'_ is far below someone of your stature! The only guaranteed way to achieve a shortcut to becoming Hokage is through my teachings! I'll show you the way to the top!"

Naruto growled, "Oi, can you forget the damn way he looked for a second and think about what he just did?"

Ebisu stopped pulling on Konohamaru and looked at Naruto who he had expected to say something at any minute, just not something like that. He expected a challenge to fight or something. But hearing this boy perceived as a dead-last having anything to say to him rose his ire. "Oh, and what would that be? Besides making himself a public nuisance and besmirching the name of the honorable Lord Hokage with your tasteless influence? This is the honorable grandson of the honorable third Hokage, whatever he does reflects back upon his grandfather. If he fails in his studies, it reflects badly upon Lord Hokage. If he is seen making a nuisance of himself, it reflects badly upon Lord Hokage. If he is seen in the company of an uncivilized ruffian like you, _it reflects badly upon Lord Hokage." _

Naruto's eyes twitched. He _so _wanted to fight this guy and show him what was what, but he promised his sensei that he would try to act more mature and professional and getting into a fight with someone who was _technically _his superior wouldn't bode too well for him. Naruto grit his teeth and continued to speak, "he successfully did a transformation jutsu you idiot." Was all that Naruto really had the self-control to get out.

Ebisu looked at Naruto expectantly, as if to say, 'that's all?'.

It took a few seconds, but the facts of what he had just uttered seemed to finally dawn on Ebisu as his eyes slowly panned down to Konohamaru who was still trying to break his grip.

After realizing that Konohamaru had indeed used a jutsu that he hadn't even come close to teaching him yet, he let go of the young boy in shock. "Honorable grandson, this is incredible! To learn such a jutsu in one day!"

Naruto _soooo_ wanted to yell at the idiotic Jonin for changing his tune so abruptly; _"kami, I hate arrogant assholes and brownnosers!' _

"Of course, it only took a day!" Konohamaru bellowed before running back over to Naruto, "Boss taught it to me after all!"

Naruto patted Konohamaru's head, "yeah, but now you can use it to turn into other stuff, all you need are the hand-signs now since you already got the idea of turning into a different form." He pointed to Ebisu, "that guy can show you how to that later."

Konohamaru frowned as he looked over at Ebisu, "but boss, he doesn't teach me any cool jutsu like you do and he also keeps on saying that there are shortcuts to being Hokage!"

Naruto looked over at Ebisu and allowed himself to smirk, "he can talk all he wants but, in the end, he has no influence over who becomes Hokage and who doesn't." Naruto's smirk widened at the insulted look on Ebisu's face before he looked back down to Konohamaru. "If you really want to be Hokage one day, you're going to have to prove that you're better than me." Konohamaru gulped at that, "you need a lot of guts, and you're going to fall down a lot, but if you work hard and never give up then I truly believe that you can become Hokage one day…after me of course."

Konohamaru stared at Naruto as he started to walk away from both him and Ebisu. "Fine! But you're still going to teach me stuff!"

Naruto chuckled and waved absently over his shoulder, "yeah, fine. Tell ya what, if ya manage to master the Tree Walking by the next time we'll meet I'll teach ya a new Jutsu."

Ebisu's eyes nearly popped out of his head, _'The Kyuubi-Brat knows the Tree Walking!? I thought that he is the dead-last!? I need to speak with Hokage-sama about this, this cannot be allowed to go unchecked!'_

"You bet!" Konohamaru shouted just before Naruto vanished from his line of sight.

* * *

~NU~

* * *

A/N: Phew! Here it is my dear readers, chapter two of Naruto Unleashed, I hope that it was enjoyable!

As you can all obviously see I want to take my time with this story, I don't want to simply skip the three weeks of Naruto's training in a single chapter and I want to introduce the characters that are important to this story before the team placements and the follow up Survival Test. So be prepared to read another chapter or two before the Teams are selected and Naruto get's his true sensei.

I hope that you enjoyed the way that I've written Yamato in this fic, I wanted him to have more of a playful side to him, same as he had in cannon, but I also want him to be a bit of a hard-ass. C'mon, he was trained by Danzo, I think that making him a rough and brutal teacher is more than justified.

I also want to underline the importance of Naruto's relationship with Konohamaru in this story. I want it to be important to both Naruto's character and the story as a whole. If you are wondering what I am planning that relationship to be like, I want Naruto and Konohamaru to have a similar relationship to what Hiruzen Sarutobi had with Tobirama Senju. A real student-teacher bond, mostly because I personally simply don't like Ebisu and think that Kono and his teammates deserve far better.

Finally, my dear readers, I wanted to once again bring up the pairing. I know that last chapter I've written that I have three possible pairings in mind but that wasn't a poll, only an announcement. There is no need for anyone to be worried about the pairing just yet, it will take a while before Naruto truly ends up with any girl. Right now, his character growth is important, his pairing won't come into play before the Chunin exams and we are still a few chapters away from that arc happening.

Now, then I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I wish you all the best!

R&R

Have a good time.

-Just4fun23000


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